Jon Fitch

Georges St. Pierre. Photo property of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The official weigh-in results for tomorrow night’s UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, which will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are below. The show’s televised main card will air on pay-per-view starting at 10 PM ET. All fighters successfully made weight.

“Countdown to UFC 87”, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s usual event preview show, will premiere tonight at 11 PM ET on Spike TV. You can check out a preview of the episode here. The show will focus on the three biggest main card fights that will take place this Saturday night: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch, Roger Huerta vs. Kenny Florian, and Heath Herring vs. Brock Lesnar. Interviews and video of all fighters training in their respective hometowns are expected to be shown.

Here’s something a little different. UFC President Dana White has decided to keep a video blog of his doings in this week leading up to Saturday night’s UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, which will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the above video, White discusses what he plans to do with the videos and previews the three big fights on UFC 87’s main card: Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring, Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta, and Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch.

Jon Fitch discusses his upcoming UFC welterweight title bout against current champion Georges St. Pierre, which will take place on August 9th in Minnesota, in the above video courtesy of ESPN. Fitch also touches on why he believes St. Pierre’s recent unwillingness to stand and strike gives him in advantage in the fight, his keys to victory, and how many of his fans, friends, and family he believes will be in attendance that night.

Reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre discusses his upcoming title defense against top contender Jon Fitch at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy on August 9th in the above video courtesy of ESPN. St. Pierre also touches on how he plans on actually successfully making a title defense this time around and how Fitch doesn’t have anyone at this camp (San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy) that will be able to put the kind of pressure on him during training that St. Pierre intends to put on him during the fight.

I’m also not sure how these rumors got started, probably because of his relationship with Affliction Clothing as a sponsor, but with only two fights remaining on his current deal with the UFC, many were speculating that St. Pierre would opt to leave the company after his contract was up. St. Pierre refuted those rumors on MMA Weekly Radio last night, stating that his management team is currently in talks with the UFC about an extension and that he “would like to retire with the UFC” as well.

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre discusses his upcoming title defense against top contender and American Kickboxing Academy product Jon Fitch at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy on August 9th in the above video courtesy of MMARated.com. St. Pierre also touches on the UFC potentially holding an event in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, a rematch with B.J. Penn possibly happening before the end of the year, and rumors concerning his relationship with actress Mandy Moore.

Georges St. Pierre. Photo property of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

UFC Hall-of-Famer Mark Coleman’s return to the organization has been put on hold courtesy of a knee injury while UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will attempt to be successful in another first title defense as he takes on undefeated upstart Jon Fitch in the main event of UFC 87: Seek and Destroy in August.

The organization announced the addition and change to the fight card for the event earlier today.

Coleman was scheduled to take on former professional wrestler turned mixed martial artist Brock Lesnar in his return bout. However Coleman reportedly tore his MCL and will be out of action for up to six weeks according to Sherdog.com. The injury will not require surgery. Lesnar will remain on the card and an opponent for him will be announced shortly.

St. Pierre avenged a prior loss to former champion Matt Serra last month, stopping the Long Island native in the first round. He will take on Fitch, a former collegiate wrestling standout at Purdue University, who has won all of his eight fights inside the confines of the UFC to date.

“The whole goal is to get the belt and be in the position where guys can’t duck me, run away, or say they don’t want to fight me,” Fitch said on UFC.com. “If I have the belt, there’s no excuse, and if you say you’re the best, then we’re gonna fight. This is gonna be a tough fight, but I’m gonna make sure I’m sharp that night, and wherever the fight needs to go, that’s fine with me.”

A bout between lightweight contenders Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian will also take place on the card, which will serve as the UFC’s inaugural event held in the state of Minnesota.

Anderson Silva passed his toughest test yet as champion with flying colors, submitting former Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson and successfully defending his UFC middleweight title for the third straight time, becoming the second undisputed champ in mixed martial arts history while doing it.

Even in defeat, Henderson perhaps gave the best performance against the champion to date. After an exchange on the feet to start the fight, Henderson was able to take Silva down and control him on the mat until the end of the round.

Although Silva did a good job of keeping a tight guard and preventing Henderson from doing any significant damage, the Team Quest co-founder used a number of hammer fists and the constant disruption of Silva’s breathing pattern to take the lead on the judge’s scorecards.

Silva heeded advice to crank up the pressure at the start of the second round, waving Henderson towards him and then stunning him with a mix of kicks, knees, and punches. A dazed Henderson swung wildly while trying to keep himself from falling over and then came up short in a takedown attempt.

Silva (21-4) capitalized by pouncing on his opponent. After softening him up with punches from inside his guard, Henderson (22-7) gave up his back and was forced to tap out via a rear naked choke moments later.

“My hat goes off to Anderson Silva,” Henderson said during a post-fight interview. “He was definitely the better fighter tonight. I controlled him well and beat him up a little bit in that first round and he came back ready to get after me in the second. He dazed me a little bit on the ground and then he got me in the choke.”

“I think I should have been more aggressive,” continued Henderson. “I didn’t fully execute my gameplan.”